Quinn signs bill to expand funding for renewable energy

Aiming to bolster Illinois' "green" economy, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday signed into law a plan that makes available an extra $300 million in funding for renewable energy or clean coal projects.

Adriana Colindres

Aiming to bolster Illinois' "green" economy, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday signed into law a plan that makes available an extra $300 million in funding for renewable energy or clean coal projects.

"The key to prosperity in the 21st century is to have a green way of thinking and a green way of acting," said Quinn, who described the measure as a "landmark piece of legislation."

A couple of central Illinois companies, Biofuels Manufacturers of Illinois, LLC and Firefly Energy, are in good position to benefit from the new law, said Sen. David Koehler.

Koehler, D-Peoria, was the main Senate sponsor of proposal, Senate Bill 1906. It expands the state's bonding authority for those projects from $2.7 billion to $3 billion. Bonds provide a financing option for fledgling industries and attract businesses with strong potential for growth, officials said.

The new law also could enable the state to gain access to extra federal funding for the "green" initiatives.

Officials from BMI and Firefly, both in the Peoria area, said they'd seek some of the newly available funds. For example, Sudhir Seth, president and chief executive officer of BMI, said that company has a "shovel ready" $38 million project that will employ 150 construction workers and 24 full-time workers once the Mapleton biodiesel plant begins production.

Koehler said the new law will create jobs in Illinois that are part of "the future economy."

"Certainly, I think it helps to give a real boost to some of the new energy startups and looks at how we can really tap into the green economy," he said. "The state can't afford not to do it because what helps the economy more than anything is to have more people working, more people paying taxes."

Tenaska, the project's managing partner, is pursuing a loan guarantee of up to $2.6 billion through the U.S. Department of Energy and has cleared a key hurdle in that process. Tenaska vice president Bart Ford said if the company gets the DOE loan guarantee, as it believes it will, it would not seek IFA financing.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.

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